Chinese Studies - Short Story by 郁达夫 (Yu Dafu) - 春风沉醉的晚上 (Spring Night) - Page 2 -

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Short Story by 郁达夫 (Yu Dafu) - 春风沉醉的晚上 (Spring Night)
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gato -

There's hypothetically a danger of giving away the plot, but in this case, I don't think that's
too much of a problem. Just be discreet.



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imron -

What I find both appealing and annoying about this story is that it offers us a brief glimpse into
the lives of these characters, but then stops without filling in the details. I realise this is
quite possibly the author's whole intention, but after reading the story, there's so much more I
want to know about the characters, that we can now only guess at through idle speculation - like
for instance how does someone who speaks at least 4 languages end up living destitute in a slum.

I also think that going by passages is a good way to go, as it gives slower readers and/or busy
people time to read along and participate. Otherwise you'll get people wanting to move onto the
next story, or talking about future events, before everyone's finished reading. Remember, it is
after all suppossed to be book of the month.










muyongshi -



Quote:

What I find both appealing and annoying about this story is that it offers us a brief glimpse into
the lives of these characters, but then stops without filling in the details.

I agree with you. I personally don't like the idea of a story missing the whole conclusion of the
matter. (oh wait have we spoiled the ending ) but in terms of the way he writes I enjoy the style.

I guess though his intention wasn't, as you said, to give us a biography but to simply illustrate
a certain time of his life...










imron -

I don't like it from a story perspective, but I like it for the effect it has - that it makes you
think about the characters and the lifes they lead. After all, if he went on to fill in all the
backstory, and then what happens next, there would be nothing left for you to think about. That
would make for a more complete story, but wouldn't stimulate the mind so much.










muyongshi -



Quote:

but wouldn't stimulate the mind so much.

Exactly...I hate stories that stimulate my mind










文言訓開班 -

Alright, it's Tuesday and I'm just sitting down to start 第二回 My apologies. I've got an idea
as to where this is going to go, though I'm not positive, but I don't mind if people give
spoilers, frankly. The biggest two things I want to get out of my first few ventures into contempo
Chinese lit is vocabulary and getting accustomed the the writing voice, or style. So please, feel
free I didn't know if people wanted to read these pieces, then discuss together at the same
time....while I acknowledge that everyone being on the same piece at once makes things easier,
this is the internet, and what each one of us says isn't going to disappear if we're not around to
listen like it would in a face-to-face discussion group

So, first thoughts. First, I'm not convinced that 破书 means dilapidated books. The story starts
pretty abruptly with him unemployed and kicking around the slums of shanghai, and by the end of
the chapter, I feel like I've got a pretty good idea of what kind of character this is. I know
beatniks like this, and they keep books forever. I think 破书 are books he's read, and he's
trying to establish himself as a beatnik or something to that effect.

I don't really feel confident on judging the writing style. I think I find the Chinese
light-hearted and kind of fun, though.


Also, Imron


Quote:

Remember, it is after all suppossed to be book of the month

While I am busy and would love to drag this out for a month, I'll acknowledge that I'm the
straggler here....it's book of the month, but it's book of the month, and this ain't no book










文言訓開班 -

As for where this story's going (第二回正短了), I was way off. I actually think I'm going to
like this story a lot, though I'll see where it goes from here. From here, I'm interested in
seeing how the author develops or what he learns in the rest of this story. My guess is that this
is going to be a guilt trip about him worrying so much about theoretical questions as to what type
of person he is while people right next to him are happy to just make it through the day before
breaking even. My sense is, though, that the author's more clever than this.

Also, does anyone know what 煙 are in this context? They're cigarettes, right? The girl packages
cigarettes? does 吃煙 mean to smoke?










文言訓開班 -

also, this story's dated to be from 1923. can we forget i called him beatnik?










gato -



Quote:

吃煙

吃香烟 is Shanghainese for 抽烟. The story was written when Mandarin still wasn't
standardized, and the author uses some Shanghainese phrases in the story. In Shanghainese, you'd
even 吃汤 instead of 喝汤 (I think).










studentyoung -



Quote:

I realise this is quite possibly the author's whole intention, but after reading the story,
there's so much more I want to know about the characters, that we can now only guess at through
idle speculation - like for instance how does someone who speaks at least 4 languages end up
living destitute in a slum.



Quote:

“你家在什么地方？何以不回家去？”

她问到了这里，我忽而感觉到我自己的现状了。因为自去年以来，我只是一�
��一日的萎靡下去，差不多把“我是什么人？”“我现在所处的是怎么一种��
�遇？”“我的心里还是悲还是喜？”这些观念都忘掉了。经她这一问，我重
新把半年来困苦的情形一层一层的想了出来。所以听她的问话以后，我只是�
��呆的看她，半晌说不出话来。她看了我这个样子，以为我也是一个无家可��
�的流浪人。脸上就立时起了一种孤寂的表情，微微的叹着说：

“唉！你也是同我一样的么？”

I think it might be the author’s intention, too. Maybe 郁达夫tried to express the meaning of
the famous verse by 白居易，”同是天涯沦落人，相逢何必曾相识Fellow sufferers
sympathize with each other, why bother to know who you are.”

Cheers!












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